Baidoe-Ansah dethroned - Joe Mensah NPP candidate for Kwesimintsim
The incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwesimintsim in the Western Region, Mr Joe Baidoe-Ansah, yesterday lost his bid to become the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) parliamentary candidate for the constituency to contest the 2016 general election.
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After a gruelling contest, a 57-year-old training manager at the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Takoradi, Mr Joe Mensah, emerged the winner of the much-awaited NPP parliamentary primary for the Kwesimintsim Constituency.
Mr Mensah secured 187 votes as against 122 by Mr Baidoe-Ansah.
There was wild jubilation during the ballot count by the Electoral Commission (EC) officials in the presence of agents of the two candidates vying for the spot, when supporters of the winner realised that their preferred choice was carrying the day.
Amid deafening cheers and blowing of vuvuzelas by the party supporters, Mr Baidoe-Ansah, who had been present all along, left the venue quietly.
The election of a parliamentary candidate was dogged by legal wranglings.
Last Friday, the Accra High Court cleared Mr Mensah to contest the primary. The judgement was given after the court upheld claims by Mr Mensah that he was unjustifiably disqualified from contesting the primary.
Mr Mensah was disqualified by the Constituency Vetting Committee of the NPP on the basis that he was not a member of the party.
Following the court ruling, the NPP hurriedly organised the poll yesterday to clear the only outstanding selection of a representative of the party for the December 7, 2016 general election.
In all, a total of 341 delegates, including all executives and the MP, were expected to cast their ballot, but 309 turned up.
Mr Kwabena Asante, the EC Director for the area, who announced the results, indicated that two of the ballots were rejected.
Loss of experienced hand
For some time now, voters in the Kwesimintsim Constituency have been agitating for development projects, with some indicating that Mr Baidoe-Ansah was not doing enough.
The resentment affected the performance of the MP, indicating that some voters, especially NPP members, want another person to lead the party’s determination to maintain the seat.
In 2001, when Mr Baidoe-Ansah first went to Parliament, he secured about 60 per cent of the votes cast.
Since then the fortunes of the party have continued to dwindle, although in 2012 when the MP garnered 46 per cent of the votes, the Effia-Kwesimintsim constituency was split into two.
Mr Baidoe-Ansah’s defeat means that the NPP will lose an experienced hand in Parliament in 2017.
Currently, he is the Ranking Member on the Government Assurances Committee and member of the Communications Committee.